COVID – Updated Clinic Policies

Dear Tumble N’ Dots families,

Our team has been thinking of all of you and hope you have all remained safe and healthy during this separation. We look forward to resuming or continuing therapy services with you either in-person at the clinic or virtually via Telehealth. The clinic is open for in-person services.

During this pandemic, occupational therapy has been designated as an “essential service”. We are working hard to make the clinic as safe as possible. We understand if you may elect not to return to in-person clinic sessions immediately and expect decisions will be made based on what is best of your family’s health and according to your unique family situation.

If you are not ready to come back to the clinic, we strongly encourage you to consider Telehealth sessions.

For those of you interested in returning, the clinic has adopted new policies and has undergone the following in preparation for a safe return:

Thorough cleaning & disinfecting of all surfaces, carpet, tile (stripped and resealed), equipment, wearables, manipulatives, and toys. Method of cleaning and disinfecting following CDC guidelines. All items/equipment will be clean prior to treatment.

Reducing equipment, manipulatives, and toys available for use during therapy. This measure reduces the number of items to be cleaned, organized and tracked given the time constraints due to the implementation of the new arrival and departure routines.

New Clinic Policies in a Post-COVID-19 World:

Treatment Time: pre-Covid-19, treatment times are traditionally 60-minutes in total timed billed, with direct therapy for 50-minutes, and 10-min for standard of care treatment documentation. However, due to Covid-19, the CDC has recommended additional steps to ensure safety when receiving and treating patients. In order to allow time for the arrival and departure routines and subsequent cleaning of surfaces touched by the child or therapist, an additional 5-mins will be allotted. All efforts will be made to “clean as you go” but not all instances will be appropriate for this method. Therefore, your child will receive 45-minutes of direct therapy and this will be the time you return to pick up your child. For example, if your child’s therapy time is 1:00, the pickup time will be 1:45 instead of 1:50.

Limiting Entrance Traffic into Clinic: Do not visit the clinic if you, your child, or household members are sick. Contact and follow the advice of your medical provider if you or one of your household contracts Covid-19. Please inform us at your earliest convenience and the same-day cancellation fee will be waived.

Return to therapy after recovering from Covid-19 infection: you will need clearance by a medical provider to return to the clinic.

Protective Equipment: Staff will wear cloth face covering or masks during treatment & gloves in specific cases. Children are highly encouraged to wear cloth face covering if able. Parents must wear masks themselves if entering the clinic and should provide their child cloth face coverings or masks while at the clinic.

Physical Distancing: During phase 1, we will be limiting one therapist/child pair to a room at a time. If there is overlap during transitions from rooms or treatment spaces, therapist/child pairs will attempt to keep 6-ft. distance from other treating pairs in the clinic environment. This will be strongly enforced if the child is not able to wear a cloth face covering.

Telehealth/ E-visits: Our therapists have been successful in providing OT online. Many children are appropriate for this type of service delivery. These sessions are individualized to fit the needs and routines of your family and provide valuable therapeutic activities and strategies to support your child’s goals and challenges. Although e-visits should not permanently replace in-person therapy, hybrid programs (clinic and e-visits) can provide continuity of care. Insurance companies must fund telehealth services at the same reimbursement levels. Please reach out to me (if you haven’t already) for scheduling information.

New Procedures Post-COVID-19:

Arrival Procedures

Parents/others are limited from entering the clinic or waiting in the lobby during phases 1 and 2, if possible. Exceptions can be made with advanced notice for children who require extra help to comply with therapy, i.e. young children, new clients, clients with complex behavioral profiles. Sorry, please, no siblings at this time. One adult only accompanying the child if necessary.

For all other clients, the therapist will meet the family at the end of the sidewalk entranceway.

Wellness checks: Take temperature of child with infrared forehead thermometer. Please keep the child home if runny nose or cough.

If well (no fever, runny nose, or cough) parent will hand off the child to the therapist and coordinate a time for pick up w/therapist before leaving.

Before entering the gym, the child will wash their hands or use hand sanitizer and wipe feet with a baby wipe before entering the gym area.

The staging area in the waiting room will be used to store child’s items such as backpacks, jackets, etc. The fewer personal items brought into the clinic the better the environmental control.

Departure Procedures

Parents (wearing cloth face coverings) must meet the therapist and child outside the door on the sidewalk. If more than one treating pair (child & therapist) is present exiting or waiting for a parent to pick up, keep physical distance to 6-ft between pairs.

Please be prompt for pickup, otherwise, you may delay the start of the next child’s therapy time.

Thank you for your understanding, flexibility, patience, positivity, and communication during this trying time as we all learn new ways of functioning in light of Covid-19. You will be notified in writing if policies and procedures change, as the situation remains fluid.